


Rumours

by raspberrylightning



Series: Turn of the Tide AU [2]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: One Shot, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:15:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29334372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raspberrylightning/pseuds/raspberrylightning
Summary: "The millions of different sounds of the city were distilled into one constant background noise if you flew high enough. Normally, this and the fresh wind in his face calmed Tenzin. Today, his heart was racing, and he still felt awfully sick."This is a quick one-shot set in the same universe as my story "Turn of the Tide". There is no need to read the story to enjoy this little piece, although I would of course recommend you do if you are looking for more Linzin content :)
Relationships: Lin Beifong/Tenzin
Series: Turn of the Tide AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2154447
Comments: 6
Kudos: 44





	Rumours

“President Raiko”, Tenzin forced himself to smile as he entered the office. The Airbender didn’t hold grudges, his belief in finding inner peace through forgiveness and detachment prevented him from doing so. However, if he ever were to hold a grudge, it would be against President Raiko. It wasn’t anything specific that made him dislike the man – more the series of cowardly actions, designed to preserve Raiko’s position of power rather than improve the welfare of the citizens of Republic City. With a little bit of luck, Tenzin thought, this year’s election would finally rid him of the man. Until then, Tenzin remained loyal to the leader of Republic City….Even though he really was a prick, which he proved once again by waving a newspaper in Tenzin’s direction and greeting him with the words: “In the headlines, again, Master Tenzin.” “Ah, yes”, Tenzin suppressed an eye roll, “well, my crime was going out for brunch. Doesn’t seem newsworthy to me.” “If you’re going out with the Chief of Police, it is”, Raiko sighed, “and here I was, hoping to get some press coverage for my new initiative on social housing.” My initiative, Tenzin thought, as he sat down across Raiko. He’d designed the whole thing – all the President had done was delaying it for weeks, by demanding costs be cut at every corner. “Well, the attention will waver off sooner rather than later”, Tenzin helped himself to some water since Raiko clearly wasn’t going to offer him anything to drink, “now, about the social housing…” “No, no, that is not what I called you for”, Raiko made a dismissive view, “I want to talk to you about this.” He pointed at the article, complete with a grainy picture of Tenzin and Lin at dinner in the small watertribe restaurant. “I wouldn’t know what there could possibly be to talk about”, Tenzin sat up a little straighter, looking down to Raiko. 

“I cannot afford two of the city’s leader to look…unprofessional”, Raiko took a sip from his teacup, “so, if you have to do this, please keep it to yourselves.” “Pardon me?”, Tenzin felt anger rise in his chest. No matter how hard he tried to follow the serene ways of the airbenders, his mother’s famous temper had always been present in him. He folded his hands in his lap, mostly so that he didn’t feel as tempted to let all of Raiko’s paper fly through the office. “Well, we all know what happened last time you broke up”, Raiko got up to stand at the window and sighed theatrically, “it would not be a good look if the Chief of Police rips apart the city’s landmark island because her feelings got hurt...again.” “I have no intention of breaking up with Lin”, Tenzin got up as well, “you may not be able to sympathise with this, Sir, but neither of us enjoys the press attention. We will be happy once it subsides and the papers go back to covering your disastrous electoral prospects.” Raiko spun around, his face turning bright red, but Tenzin was already leaving his office, orange cloak trailing behind him. 

Tenzin took a deep breath as he walked towards the office in City Hall which was granted to him thanks to his position as an official advisor to the government. Mumbles greeted him as he walked into the entrance hall. For the second time today, he could hardly contain an exasperated sigh. He had known that there would be press attention – it was the bane of having famous parents. Since he’d been a boy, they had haunted him, just waiting for him to misstep so they could publish salacious stories about the Avatar’s airbending son being unworthy of the role he’d never asked for. 

In many ways, they were even harder on Lin. Mostly because she was a woman... but in Tenzin's opinion, the other girls had it easier than her, too: Lin wasn't like Izumi who was able to seemingly conform to norms, only to then manipulate everyone around her according to her wishes. She wasn't like Suyin either, who had committed every single possible mistake but, with her charming smile and her adorable children, still managed to make the press adore her. More than anything, though, Lin wasn't like Kya. Kya had never cared about what they said about her - "It's all bullshit anyways, Tenny, might as well enjoy the attention". Lin, of course, claimed to feel the same way but Tenzin saw the way she crumpled the newspapers up and threw them at the fireplace. He still remembered how he had found her, 14 years old, sobbing violently over a mean article that had called her ugly and overly bossy...because she had won the bending tournament at school, with flying colours.

The most recent stories have portrayed her as a bitter loner who had been pining for Tenzin for years, only to eventually steal him from his family. Tenzin snorted: considering the number of times Lin had saved the city, they should know she hadn’t had time for that sort of nonsense. He was ripped from his thoughts as even Nomi, the secretary who greeted visitors and made sure no one entered City Hall without authorisation, was staring at him. He hadn’t expected that, given that she had worked there for nearly as long as he had.  
“Good morning”, Tenzin greeted her, shaking his head and walking up to her, “please, Nomi, will you not look at me like that?” “Good morning, Master Tenzin”, Nomi said, but her eyebrows were drawn together; and she was looking at Tenzin searchingly. “Is everything alright?”, Tenzin looked around. People were still gawking and whispering but now he had a feeling that they all looked less amused and more…horrified. Tenzin’s throat tightened. “Speak to me, Nomi, what is up? Is it Jinora? Or Korra? Or Meelo, oh spirits, Meelo is on a mission…” “There’s been a hostage crisis, downtown”, Nomi swallowed hard, her eyes filling with tears, “the police won’t say what is going on but…but someone died. An officer. People are saying…people are saying it’s the Chief.” Immediately, Tenzin tasted bile in his mouth. He felt like throwing up but forced himself to keep it down, taking a deep breath. “Where”, he managed to hiss through gritted teeth, “where exactly did this happen.” 

The millions of different sounds of the city were distilled into one constant background noise if you flew high enough. Normally, this and the fresh wind in his face calmed Tenzin. Today, his heart was racing, and he still felt awfully sick. The crime scene, according to Nomi, was downtown, not particularly far from city hall, but the flight felt like ages.  
This had happened before, of course, there always were rumours…and more often than not, they proved untrue. Sprits knew Lin could look after herself, Tenzin told himself, she was one of if not the best bender he knew. She would be fine. He also knew, though, that people, no matter how much they liked to gossip, usually stayed away from declaring specific officers as dead. It was considered offensive to the potentially deceased loved ones, these kinds of news usually came directly from the police…That, and the fact that the police press office was denying comments on the investigation was enough to make his mind reel. He had to stay calm, there was no point in panicking…and he saw Lin, lying face down on the street, blood running from her head…just deep breaths, she would be fine, as always…Lin, dying in his arms, her cold hand falling from his face…in through the nose and out through the mouth…Lin’s shattered body, stripped from the armour, looking terribly fragile…the healers, shaking their heads…They had only just found their way to each other again…How could he cope with her being gone if he had only just grown accustomed to waking up with her warm, comforting presence next to him…Tenzin involuntarily dropped a few meters before he managed to bend the air around him again, stabilising his flight. It had been years since he had last lost control of his glider, even for a split second. Suddenly, the crime scene came into his view – there were police satomobiles everywhere, tape cordoning off the area. Lin, he thought, Lin was down there…one way or another. 

His heart hammered as he flew rapidly towards the crime scene, where the last police satomobiles were rushing away. A metal-clad figure stood in the middle of the chaos, gesturing, ordering the remaining officers around. He recognised her voice, of course, but he only allowed himself to believe it as she turned around, bellowing commands at a young Detective, and he saw her face. It was Lin. Lin. Standing. Alive. He landed only a small distance away from her. “This is a crime scene, what do you think you are…”, she began but as she recognised him, she stopped herself, confusion in her face. “Tenzin, what are you doing here?” 

“I…”, Tenzin took the sight of her in, her grey hair tousled, scratches all over her armour but standing tall, green eyes focussed on him. “You’re okay”, he managed to say, trying to cope with the wave of emotions rolling over him. “Yeah, of course, I am okay”, she furrowed her brows, “what’s wrong, you’re shaking.” “I heard…there were rumours…”, he couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence. “Oh”, Lin nodded, slowly understanding. “Well, one of my people was killed”, she then said, her voice grief-stricken, “all the hostages are fine but they…got to her…” “I thought it was you”, he burst out, stepping forward and placing his hands on her shoulders, _needing_ to touch her. It was selfish, he should be consoling her, she always blamed these fatal incidents on herself…but before he could do that, he needed to fully convince himself that she was truly there, alive and well. “Don’t listen to those rumours”, she looked around, but all the remaining officers were either busy or in the process of leaving. “You know how this works, Ten – don’t listen to anything other than the official police sources. People talk nothing but crap all day long. You never used to let this get to you this way.” “I did, I just…didn’t admit it to you”, Tenzin sighed, suddenly feeling incredibly tired, “I will always worry for you, Lin.” 

“It’s part of the job”, she pressed her lips together before adding: “it’s worth it to me.” Tenzin nodded. He knew that, of course. She had worked to make Republic City a more secure place all her life. She had never been in it for the power or the influence – only ever for the people. If only the people knew that, he thought slightly bitterly. Lin was still staring at him, her arms now crossed. “I know it is your job and I’ll never keep you from doing your work”, he took a deep breath and forced himself to smile at her, “Spirits know, Republic City would have more than one big problem without you on the frontlines. Just sometimes…after everything that’s happened in the past few years…things get to me.” 

He saw Lin’s features soften, her lips curving upwards. He longed for the familiar smile she reserved for him, but of course, he would never get to see that in public. Tenzin was tempted to drag her around a corner, kiss her until he felt that smile…but that was hardly acceptable behaviour. They did have a reputation to maintain, after all…even though he hated to agree with Raiko. “Maybe I am just getting old”, he tried to joke, stepping away from her a little, “you know, Meelo found a grey hair in my beard the other day so it might just be me becoming senile and sentiment-“ She didn’t let him finish that sentence as she kissed him, hard. This was rather inappropriate, Tenzin thought, and then he stopped thinking entirely as he gratefully pulled her closer. She smelled like Earth and freshly baked bread and sweat and metal and finally, the weight started to disappear from his chest. “Lin”, he murmured, pressing a kiss to her cheek, “thank spirits you’re okay, Linny…” Instead of reprimanding him for the use of that childhood nickname, prohibited unless they were alone, she buried her face in his neck. He felt her shake under his touch – whatever had happened must have been horrifying, he realised. It took a lot of action to render Lin Beifong anywhere near this emotional. “All good, you’re all good”, he whispered, stroking over her metal uniform and kissing her hair – there was ash all over it, why was there ash, there must have been firebending involved…

“Ehm”, an awkward sound interrupted them, “chief…” It was Mako, face scarlet red and looking at his feet. “What!”, Lin snapped, barely letting go of Tenzin, then, in a calmer voice added: “What do you need, Detective?” “Your signature, to close the crime scene…”, Mako looked up at Lin. He looked incredibly tired; Tenzin realised. The boy really needed sleep and a good cup of tea and maybe a friend...he would send by Korra later today, he decided. Or even better, Asami, who was much more…emotionally intelligent than her world-saving girlfriend. “Sorry, Chief, I shouldn’t have…”, Mako began to say. “No, no, nothing to worry about”, Lin let go of Tenzin and took the papers, signing them, then put her hand on Mako’s shoulder, “it’s been a tough one…for all of us. You people need to go home and rest. I’m sorry for lashing out just now.” “Don’t worry”, Mako smiled first at her, then at Tenzin, “see you soon, Chief, Master Tenzin.” 

Tenzin placed an arm around Lin’s waist. “You did good with that one”, he said. “I don’t have favourites”, Lin scoffed, but immediately smiled, “he’s bright, though. And loyal. All you’d need to rise up in the ranks, to be…Chief of Police, for example.” “Lin!”, Tenzin felt a grin spread across his face, “are you telling me you are thinking of retirement?” “Not quite yet”, she rolled her eyes at him, then added more pensively: “but, you know, maybe we’ll want to go on a holiday, sometime. And…that might be a useful training exercise for people like Mako to step up, take more responsibility.” Tenzin felt warmth spread in his chest as he thought of the places they could go. Ember Island would be the first destination, he decided, as he imagined laying on the warm sand, Lin in his arm, waves crashing onto the shore…

“For now, I just want to go home though”, Lin yawned, ripping him out of his daydream. “Yes, of course”, Tenzin looked around, “all your cars are gone though, do you want me to call a…”  
Lin gestured to the staff in his hand, “just give me a ride, moron.” “Oh, of course”, Tenzin cleared his throat. They hadn’t done this since they had been…much younger. It had been such a long time that he had completely forgotten about this option.  
Smiling, he pulled Lin flush against his body as she first wrapped her cables around his midsection, then her arms around his neck and finally one leg around his hip – that last one, he remembered with a smile, was not technically required for safety. The movements were smooth – they both remembered it perfectly. “Ready?”, he checked. Lin only nodded; her cheek pressed against his neck. He bent the air around them – even though Lin, plus her metal uniform, added a fair bit weight, he didn’t have any difficulties, making them fly up high until the people on Republic City’s streets looked like they were the size of ants. He allowed himself to breath in the cold air. Relief finally flooded through his body as he fully calmed down. She was here, in his arms. “I’m okay, airhead”, Lin said, as if she could read his thoughts, and he could feel her smile against his neck, “now get us home, I’m starving.”


End file.
